Method and apparatus for high speed data services

ABSTRACT

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, receiving, by a first line card coupled to minimally twisted or non-twisted pair cables, a very high digital subscriber line signal, modifying the very high digital subscriber line signal for transmission over the minimally twisted or non-twisted pair cables to generate an updated very high digital subscriber line signal that overcomes a transmission deficiency, and transmitting from the first line card the updated very high digital subscriber line signal to a second line card to cause the second line card to receive the adapted very high digital subscriber line signal at a desired signal quality and convert the updated very high digital subscriber line signal to a very high digital subscriber line signal for presentation of interactive television services at the customer premise equipment. Other embodiments are disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/545,428 filed Aug. 21, 2009 which is incorporated herein by referencein its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to high speed data services andmore specifically to data services using minimally twisted ornon-twisted pair cables.

BACKGROUND

Existing cabling for digital subscriber line (DSL) carriers typicallycontain a mixture of cable types including twisted, non-twisted, andminimally twisted cables. Due to this variance in cable types, certainservices can be offered to customers such as interactive TV (iTV) orInternet Protocol TV (IPTV) over twisted cables while such services aregenerally unavailable over non-twisted and minimally twisted cables dueto certain constraints mainly dealing with sufficient signal quality andsignal speed or bandwidth. Many Central Offices (CO) for DSL carriershave non-twisted/minimally twisted cable (also known as pulp cable)leaving the CO to feed customers service. With today's current Very HighSpeed DSL (VDSL) platform, such platform doesn't enable customers tosubscribe to IPTV or iTV service over some of the existing cableinfrastructure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication system;

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a portal interacting withthe communication system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a communication deviceutilized in the communication system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a method operating inportions of the communication system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 depicts an illustrative embodiment of an existing arrangementusing minimally twisted or non-twisted cables;

FIG. 6 depicts an illustrative embodiment of an arrangement usingminimally twisted or non-twisted cables in accordance with theembodiments herein; and

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the form of acomputer system within which a set of instructions, when executed, maycause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One embodiment of the present disclosure can entail a method oftransmitting interactive TV services using minimally twisted ornon-twisted pair cables having a method applied at one or more interfaceunits of receiving a very high digital subscriber line (VDSL) signal ata juncture including the minimally twisted or non-twisted pair cables,and adapting the VDSL signal for transmission over the minimally twistedor non-twisted pair cables to form an adapted VDSL signal.

Another embodiment of the present disclosure can entailcomputer-readable storage medium having computer instructions at a linecard for adapting the VDSL signal for transmission over the minimallytwisted or non-twisted pair cables to form an adapted VDSL signal. Inanother aspect, the adapted VDSL signal can be converted back to theVDSL signal at a minimum speed to enable presentation of interactivetelevision (iTV) services at end user equipment within a premise.

Yet another embodiments of the present disclosure can entail a networkdevice such as a line card (and software therein) to transmitinteractive TV services using minimally twisted or non-twisted paircables having a controller to receive a very high digital subscriberline (VDSL) signal at the minimally twisted or non-twisted pair cableand adapt the VDSL signal for transmission over the minimally twisted ornon-twisted pair cable to form an adapted VDSL signal subsequently usedfor presentation of interactive TV (iTV) services.

Yet another embodiments of the present disclosure can entail a networkdevice (such as a remote card) and software therein to facilitateinteractive TV services using minimally twisted or non-twisted paircables having a controller to receive an adapted very high digitalsubscriber line (VDSL) signal transmitted over the minimally twisted ornon-twisted pair cable and convert the adapted VDSL signal back to aVDSL signal sufficient for an interactive TV (iTV) presentation at enduser equipment within a premise.

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a first communicationsystem 100 for delivering media content. The communication system 100can represent an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) broadcast mediasystem. The IPTV media system can include a super head-end office (SHO)110 with at least one super headend office server (SHS) 111 whichreceives media content from satellite and/or terrestrial communicationsystems. In the present context, media content can represent audiocontent, moving image content such as videos, still image content, orcombinations thereof. The SHS server 111 can forward packets associatedwith the media content to video head-end servers (VHS) 114 via a networkof video head-end offices (VHO) 112 according to a common multicastcommunication protocol.

The VHS 114 can distribute multimedia broadcast programs via an accessnetwork 118 to commercial and/or residential buildings 102 housing agateway 104 (such as a common residential or commercial gateway). Theaccess network 118 can represent a group of digital subscriber lineaccess multiplexers (DSLAMs) located in a central office or a servicearea interface that provide broadband services over non-twisted orminimally twisted pair cable (commonly referred in the industry as“pulp” cable) 119 to buildings 102. The gateway 104 can use commoncommunication technology to distribute broadcast signals to mediaprocessors 106 such as Set-Top Boxes (STBs) which in turn presentbroadcast channels to media devices 108 such as computers or televisionsets managed in some instances by a media controller 107 (such as aninfrared or RF remote control).

The gateway 104, the media processors 106, and media devices 108 canutilize tethered interface technologies (such as coaxial or phone linewiring) or can operate over a common wireless access protocol. Withthese interfaces, unicast communications can be invoked between themedia processors 106 and subsystems of the IPTV media system forservices such as video-on-demand (VoD), browsing an electronicprogramming guide (EPG), or other infrastructure services.

Some of the network elements of the IPTV media system can be coupled toone or more computing devices 130 a portion of which can operate as aweb server for providing portal services over an Internet ServiceProvider (ISP) network 132 to wireline media devices 108 or wirelesscommunication devices 116 by way of a wireless access base station 117operating according to common wireless access protocols such as WirelessFidelity (WiFi), or cellular communication technologies (such as GSM,CDMA, UMTS, WiMAX, Software Defined Radio or SDR, and so on).

It will be appreciated by an artisan of ordinary skill in the art that asatellite broadcast television system can be used in place of the IPTVmedia system. In this embodiment, signals transmitted by a satellite 115supplying media content can be intercepted by a common satellite dishreceiver 131 coupled to the building 102. Modulated signals interceptedby the satellite dish receiver 131 can be submitted to the mediaprocessors 106 for generating broadcast channels which can be presentedat the media devices 108. The media processors 106 can be equipped witha broadband port to the ISP network 132 to enable infrastructureservices such as VoD and EPG described above.

In yet another embodiment, an analog or digital broadcast distributionsystem such as cable TV system 133 can be used in place of the IPTVmedia system described above. In this embodiment the cable TV system 133can provide Internet, telephony, and interactive media services.

It follows from the above illustrations that the present disclosure canapply to any present or future interactive over-the-air or landlinemedia content services including any type of cable services wherenon-twisted or minimally twisted (pulp) cable is at least partially usedin delivering electronic media content.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative embodiment of a portal 202 which canoperate from the computing devices 130 described earlier ofcommunication 100 illustrated in FIG. 1. The portal 202 can be used formanaging services of communication systems 100-200. The portal 202 canbe accessed by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) with a common Internetbrowser such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer™ using an Internet-capablecommunication device such as those described for FIGS. 1-2. The portal202 can be configured, for example, to access a media processor 106 andservices managed thereby such as a Digital Video Recorder (DVR), a VoDcatalog, an EPG, a personal catalog (such as personal videos, pictures,audio recordings, etc.) stored in the media processor, provisioning IMSservices described earlier, provisioning Internet services, provisioningcellular phone services, and so on.

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a communication device 300.Communication 300 can serve in whole or in part as an illustrativeembodiment of the communication devices of FIGS. 1-2. The communicationdevice 300 can comprise a wireline and/or wireless transceiver 302(herein transceiver 302), a user interface (UI) 304, a power supply 314,a location receiver 316, and a controller 306 for managing operationsthereof. The transceiver 302 can support short-range or long-rangewireless access technologies such as Bluetooth, WiFi, Digital EnhancedCordless Telecommunications (DECT), or cellular communicationtechnologies, just to mention a few. Cellular technologies can include,for example, CDMA-1X, UMTS/HSDPA, GSM/GPRS, TDMA/EDGE, EV/DO, WiMAX,SDR, and next generation cellular wireless communication technologies asthey arise. The transceiver 402 can also be adapted to supportcircuit-switched wireline access technologies (such as PSTN),packet-switched wireline access technologies (such as TCPIP, VoIP,etc.), and combinations thereof.

The UI 304 can include a depressible or touch-sensitive keypad 308 witha navigation mechanism such as a roller ball, joystick, mouse, ornavigation disk for manipulating operations of the communication device300. The keypad 308 can be an integral part of a housing assembly of thecommunication device 300 or an independent device operably coupledthereto by a tethered wireline interface (such as a USB cable) or awireless interface supporting for example Bluetooth. The keypad 308 canrepresent a numeric dialing keypad commonly used by phones, and/or aQwerty keypad with alphanumeric keys. The UI 304 can further include adisplay 310 such as monochrome or color LCD (Liquid Crystal Display),OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) or other suitable display technologyfor conveying images to an end user of the communication device 300. Inan embodiment where the display 310 is touch-sensitive, a portion or allof the keypad 308 can be presented by way of the display.

The UI 304 can also include an audio system 312 that utilizes commonaudio technology for conveying low volume audio (such as audio heardonly in the proximity of a human ear) and high volume audio (such asspeakerphone for hands free operation). The audio system 312 can furtherinclude a microphone for receiving audible signals of an end user. Theaudio system 412 can also be used for voice recognition applications.The UI 304 can further include an image sensor 313 such as a chargedcoupled device (CCD) camera for capturing still or moving images.

The power supply 314 can utilize common power management technologiessuch as replaceable and rechargeable batteries, supply regulationtechnologies, and charging system technologies for supplying energy tothe components of the communication device 300 to facilitate long-rangeor short-range portable applications. The location receiver 316 canutilize common location technology such as a global positioning system(GPS) receiver for identifying a location of the communication device100 based on signals generated by a constellation of GPS satellites,thereby facilitating common location services such as navigation.

The communication device 100 can use the transceiver 402 to alsodetermine a proximity to a cellular, WiFi or Bluetooth access point bycommon power sensing techniques such as utilizing a received signalstrength indicator (RSSI) and/or a signal time of arrival (TOA) or timeof flight (TOF). The controller 306 can utilize computing technologiessuch as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and/or avideo processor with associated storage memory such a Flash, ROM, RAM,SRAM, DRAM or other storage technologies.

The communication device 300 can be adapted to perform the functions ofthe media processor 106, the media devices 108, or the portablecommunication devices 56 of FIG. 1. It will be appreciated that thecommunication device 300 can also represent other common devices thatcan operate in communication systems 100 of FIG. 1 such as a gamingconsole and a media player.

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative method 400 that operates in portions ofthe communication system of FIG. 1. Method 400 of transmittinginteractive TV services using minimally twisted or non-twisted paircables can begin with step 402 in which the method can receive a veryhigh digital subscriber line (VDSL) signal at a juncture including theminimally twisted or non-twisted pair cables, adapt at 404 the VDSLsignal for transmission over the minimally twisted or non-twisted paircables to form an adapted VDSL signal and convert at 406 the adaptedVDSL signal back to the VDSL signal for presentation at end userequipment within a premise. The VDSL signal can be adapted in a numberof ways in order to make the VDSL suitable for presentation as part ofan iTV or IPTV service. The VDSL signal can be adapted at 405 byapplying any number of the adaptation including one or more amongadapting by applying a sealing current that inhibits corrosion ordegradation to copper wires used in the minimally twisted or non-twistedpair cables or by applying noise canceling filters to the VDSL signal orby applying line or path error corrections to the VDSL signal for highbandwidth, high speed signals or by applying fault isolation between aline card receiving the VDSL signal and a remote card receiving theadapted VDSL signal to help identify locations of a fault. The VDSLsignal can also alternatively or optionally be adapted by applyingFrequency Domain shifting to the VDSL signal as it traverses theminimally twisted or non-twisted pair cables or by applyingsynchronization signals between a line card receiving the VDSL signaland a remote card receiving the adapted VDSL signal. The VDSL signalshould be adapted for transmission over the minimally twisted ornon-twisted pair cables at transmission speed sufficient to deliver theinteractive television service or IPTV service which currently shouldapproximately be at least 25 Megabits per second.

Upon reviewing the aforementioned embodiments, it would be evident to anartisan with ordinary skill in the art that said embodiments can bemodified, reduced, or enhanced without departing from the scope andspirit of the claims described below. For example, if signals evenhigher than VDSL become available and further adaptation is requiredover the minimally twisted or non-twisted cable, it is contemplated thata line card and remote card would provide comparable adaptations toenable continued productive use of such legacy cabling sufficient toprovide presentation of iTV or IPTV services.

Other suitable modifications can be applied to the present disclosurewithout departing from the scope of the claims below. Accordingly, thereader is directed to the claims section for a fuller understanding ofthe breadth and scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates the existing configuration 500 that fails to enablethe use of non-twisted or minimally twisted cable 504 for use with VDSLtype services such as IPTV that can be otherwise be provided from aCentral Office 502 to a customer's premise 506 when using theappropriate cabling. FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment that enables a wayto offer IPTV (such as AT&T's Uverse service) over non-twisted/minimallytwisted cable (pulp cable) 504. Currently, IPTV service can not beoffered to customers that are fed from the Central Office 502 onnon-twisted/minimally twisted cable. Only customers that are fed byfiber/remote terminals or twisted cable can use this service. With thecreation of a VDSL platform in a system 600 as shown in FIG. 6 andutilizing a line unit 602 and remote unit 604 as shown, service can beoffered to additional customers notwithstanding the cable configurationthey may have which may include the non-twisted or minimally twistedcable 504. This solution enables a carrier to provide the latest highspeed services without great expenditure in deploying fiber andexpensive equipment to the field. The Line unit (VLU) 602 and Remoteunit (VRU) 604 would provide synchronization between the two cards,similar to the current HDSL technology.

FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary diagrammatic representation of a machine inthe form of a computer system 700 within which a set of instructions,when executed, may cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed above. In some embodiments, the machine operatesas a standalone device. In some embodiments, the machine may beconnected (e.g., using a network) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or aclient user machine in server-client user network environment, or as apeer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment.

The machine may comprise a server computer, a client user computer, apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a laptop computer, a desktopcomputer, a control system, a network router, switch or bridge, or anymachine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. It will beunderstood that a device of the present disclosure includes broadly anyelectronic device that provides voice, video or data communication.Further, while a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include any collection of machines that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The computer system 700 may include a processor 702 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU, or both), a mainmemory 704 and a static memory 706, which communicate with each othervia a bus 708. The computer system 700 may further include a videodisplay unit 710 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a flat panel, asolid state display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system700 may include an input device 712 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor controldevice 714 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 716, a signal generationdevice 718 (e.g., a speaker or remote control) and a network interfacedevice 720.

The disk drive unit 716 may include a machine-readable medium 722 onwhich is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 724)embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein, including those methods illustrated above. The instructions 724may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the mainmemory 704, the static memory 706, and/or within the processor 702during execution thereof by the computer system 700. The main memory 704and the processor 702 also may constitute machine-readable media.

Dedicated hardware implementations including, but not limited to,application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays andother hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement themethods described herein. Applications that may include the apparatusand systems of various embodiments broadly include a variety ofelectronic and computer systems. Some embodiments implement functions intwo or more specific interconnected hardware modules or devices withrelated control and data signals communicated between and through themodules, or as portions of an application-specific integrated circuit.Thus, the example system is applicable to software, firmware, andhardware implementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, themethods described herein are intended for operation as software programsrunning on a computer processor. Furthermore, software implementationscan include, but not limited to, distributed processing orcomponent/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtualmachine processing can also be constructed to implement the methodsdescribed herein.

The present disclosure contemplates a machine readable medium containinginstructions 724, or that which receives and executes instructions 724from a propagated signal so that a device connected to a networkenvironment 726 can send or receive voice, video or data, and tocommunicate over the network 726 using the instructions 724. Theinstructions 724 may further be transmitted or received over a network726 via the network interface device 720.

While the machine-readable medium 722 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should betaken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralizedor distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) thatstore the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by themachine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present disclosure.

The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken toinclude, but not be limited to: solid-state memories such as a memorycard or other package that houses one or more read-only (non-volatile)memories, random access memories, or other re-writable (volatile)memories; magneto-optical or optical medium such as a disk or tape;and/or a digital file attachment to e-mail or other self-containedinformation archive or set of archives is considered a distributionmedium equivalent to a tangible storage medium. Accordingly, thedisclosure is considered to include any one or more of amachine-readable medium or a distribution medium, as listed herein andincluding art-recognized equivalents and successor media, in which thesoftware implementations herein are stored.

Although the present specification describes components and functionsimplemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standardsand protocols, the disclosure is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Each of the standards for Internet and other packet switchednetwork transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, HTTP) representexamples of the state of the art. Such standards are periodicallysuperseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentiallythe same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards and protocolshaving the same functions are considered equivalents.

The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of various embodiments,and they are not intended to serve as a complete description of all theelements and features of apparatus and systems that might make use ofthe structures described herein. Many other embodiments will be apparentto those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Otherembodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structuraland logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing fromthe scope of this disclosure. Figures are also merely representationaland may not be drawn to scale. Certain proportions thereof may beexaggerated, while others may be minimized. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merelyfor convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope ofthis application to any single invention or inventive concept if morethan one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments havebeen illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that anyarrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coverany and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the above description.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R.§1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quicklyascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted withthe understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit thescope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing DetailedDescription, it can be seen that various features are grouped togetherin a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure.This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting anintention that the claimed embodiments require more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of asingle disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are herebyincorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing onits own as a separately claimed subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, by a first linecard coupled to minimally twisted or non-twisted pair cables, a signal,wherein the minimally twisted or non-twisted pair cables have atransmission deficiency which prevents reliable delivery of the signalat a desired signal quality for presenting interactive televisionservices at customer premise equipment, wherein the signal comprises avery high digital subscriber line signal; modifying the signal, byapplying noise canceling filters to the signal by the first line card,for transmission over the minimally twisted or non-twisted pair cablesto generate an updated signal that overcomes the transmissiondeficiency, wherein the updated signal comprises a very high digitalsubscriber line signal; and transmitting from the first line card theupdated signal to a second line card to cause the second line card toreceive the updated signal at the desired signal quality and convert theupdated signal to a converted signal for presentation of the interactivetelevision services at the customer premise equipment, wherein theconverted signal comprises a very high digital subscriber line signal.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying of the signal does notinclude applying a sealing current to the signal.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein the signal is modified by applying line or path errorcorrections to the signal.
 4. The method of claim 1, comprisingidentifying a location of a fault between the first line card and thesecond line card by utilizing fault isolation.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the signal is modified by applying synchronization signals tothe signal between the first line card and the second line card.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the signal is modified for transmission overthe minimally twisted or non-twisted pair cables by applying a sealingcurrent to the signal.
 7. A method, comprising receiving, by a secondline card from a first line card over a minimally twisted or non-twistedpair cable, an updated signal transmitted over the minimally twisted ornon-twisted pair cable, wherein the updated signal is provided by thefirst line card by modifying an original signal by applying a noisecancelling filter to the signal to generate the updated signal, whereinthe original signal comprises a very high digital subscriber linesignal, and wherein the updated signal overcomes a transmissiondeficiency which prevents reliable receipt of the signal at a preferredsignal quality for presenting interactive television services atcustomer premise equipment, wherein the updated signal comprises a veryhigh digital subscriber line signal; and converting, by the second linecard, the updated signal back to the original signal for enabling thecustomer premise equipment to receive the interactive televisionservices: wherein the converted signal comprises a very high digitalsubscriber line signal.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first linecard applies a line or path error correction to the signal.
 9. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the converting by the second line cardcomprises converting the updated signal back to the original signal tosupport a preferred data communication speed.
 10. The method of claim 7,wherein the converting the updated signal back to the original signalcomprises synchronization by the second line card with the first linecard.
 11. A system to transmit and receive interactive televisionservices using minimally twisted or non-twisted pair cables, comprising:a first line card coupled to the minimally twisted or non-twisted paircable, the first line card comprising: a first memory comprising firstinstructions; and a first processor coupled to the first memory, whereinresponsive to executing the instructions, the first processor performsfirst operations comprising: receiving a signal; and modifying thesignal for transmission over the minimally twisted or non-twisted paircable having a transmission characteristic which affects a preferredsignal quality for presenting interactive television services atcustomer premise equipment, wherein the signal is modified to form anupdated signal that overcomes the transmission characteristic; and asecond line card coupled to the minimally twisted or non-twisted paircable, the second line card comprising: a second memory comprisingsecond instructions; and a second processor coupled to the secondmemory, wherein responsive to executing the second instructions, thesecond processor performs second operations comprising converting theupdated signal to a converted signal enabling the customer premiseequipment to present the interactive television services, wherein thesignal comprises a very high digital subscriber line signal, wherein theupdated signal comprises a very high digital subscriber line signal, andwherein the converted signal comprises a very high digital subscriberline signal.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first operationsfurther comprise transmitting, from the first line card, the updatedsignal to the second line card enabling the second line card to receivethe updated signal at the preferred signal quality.
 13. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the first operations further comprise generating theupdated signal by applying to the signal a sealing current that inhibitsdegradation to the minimally twisted or non-twisted pair cables.
 14. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the first operations further comprisetransmitting synchronization signals to the second line card.